The Ten Worst Things You Can Say In A Job Interview

Most if not all job seekers go to interviews worried about saying the wrong thing. They're worried about making mistakes like forgetting the name of a software program they worked with, not having the perfect answer to an interview question or stumbling over their words.

These are insignificant issues. Every applicant stumbles over their words. Every job seeker forgets details of jobs they held years ago. Those things don't matter at all!

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The real mistake that will hurt you is to grovel on a job interview, to be so meek and mild that you disappear into the chair. The biggest problem for most job candidates is this: every hiring manager has a limited memory bank. They remember people and conversations that stand out, and that make an impression on them.

Managers feel good about hiring people who are confident in their own abilities. They want to hire people who know what they bring. If you're not sure you can do the job, why would any hiring manager believe you can?

If you don't make a real impression at the job interview, your hiring manager a/k/a Possible Next Boss is likely to forget they ever met you -- sometimes within twenty minutes of shaking your hand as you head out the front door.

I have seen it happen countless times. Sadly, I could often predict as I chatted with a candidate before they met their hiring manager that the manager was likely to forget the interview conversation the minute it was over.

Why? Managers would forget candidates who were not in their power.

Some candidates were so focused on watching the interviewer's face for approval that they didn't speak with their own mind. They gave carefully manicured, oral-exam-type answers to the interview questions instead of expressing their real views. People like that are forgettable — instantly forgettable.

I've been hiring employees since the early nineteen-eighties and I can tell you this: the biggest mistake you can make at a job interview is to be too submissive, too timid and too deferential.

Job seekers worry about answering an interviewer's questions "perfectly." The truth is that there is no perfect answer to an interview question. There isn't a "right" answer, either. The best answer is your own truth!

Here are ten of the worst things you can say in a job interview — the typical timid, apologetic things that will make the interviewer forget you before you get home from the interview.

We are not children in school. You are an adult, and a professional. Managers don't hire people because they feel sorry for them, but because they think the people they hire can help them solve their biggest problems.

Go to an interview ready to let a manager know how you've solved problems in the past. Don't beg for the job. Way too many job seekers do that, and they end up being forgotten the minute the interview is over. You will not impress a hiring manager by rolling over and playing the part of the submissive dog.

Many job seekers feel desperate to get hired. That's understandable. The more often you interview, the more confidence you'll get. You'll learn that even if your fear makes you want to beg for the role, it can only hurt you to do so. Take some deep breaths before you walk in the door for an interview, and remember this: only the people who get you, deserve you!